Snodgrass

Snodgrass

Snodgrass, W. D. (William DeWitt Snodgrass), 1926-2009, American poet and translator, b. Wilkinsburg, Pa., grad. Univ. of Iowa, 1959. He is particularly known for his debut book, Heart's Needle (1959; Pulitzer Prize), a collection of poems about a father's love for his daughter. Snodgrass moved from early confessional poetry written in traditional styles to wider interests and freer formal treatments. His other volumes of poetry include The Remains (1970), Selected Poems: 1957-1987 (1987), The Death of Cock Robin (1989), and Each in His Season (1993). He published several translations from the German, notably of works by Christian Morgenstern; his Selected Translations was published in 1998. Snodgrass was also the author of Radical Pursuits (1974), a collection of literary critical essays. In 1977 he began The Führer Bunker: A Cycle of Poems in Progress, imagined dialogues for Nazi public figures, completing it in 1995 with The Führer Bunker: The Complete Cycle. Many of his later poems and a selection of his earlier verse were published in Not for Specialists (2006). Snodgrass taught at several universities.

The family name Snodgrass is said to originate from lands in the parish of Irvine, Ayrshire, known as Snodgrasse, or Snodgers, which were rented out in plots. Both forms are recorded in Ayrshire and in Glasgow between the 13th and 16th centuries.
It has been said that the name means "smooth grass", and is from Snodgrass Village.
The earliest record seen of the name is in the late 17th century in Scottish records.

The first records of the family in the new world are in the early 18th century in Virginia. The Virginia town of Hedgesville (now West Virginia) was founded by William Snodgrass, who arrived in the American colonies in 1700. William Snodgrass is buried in the cemetery of Tuscarora Presbyterian Church in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Closer examination reveals a wave of immigrants from Scotland during the Highland Clearances, Highland Potato Famine (1846 - 1857), Lowland Clearances, and increasing family sizes probably prompted many Snodgrass to leave when the land could no longer support all of them.

From Pennsylvania and other ports-of-entry, they have spread across the North American continent and today there is in excess of 6000 Snodgrass families in the United States and Canada.

Snodgrass Clan

In April 1979, a Certificate of Incorporation was granted to the Snodgrass Clan Inc. by the state of Indiana.
This was brought about by Scott F. Hosier Jr. and Laurence E. Snodgrass. Through Hosier's efforts a "grant of arms" was granted to the Clan on March 15, 1984 by the Chief Herald of Ireland; however, the petition to be granted a "grant of arms" by Scotland was never finalized.

In 1979, Hosier ordered and received the first order of the official Snodgrass tartan. The weave code for the Snodgrass tartan is K..R.Y.B.G.B.R.Y.... 6..2..2..22.26.10.2..2.. Source: Dgn. T.S. Davidson

Places named Snodgrass

Snodgrass Village, on Garnock River, near Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Name means "Smooth Grassy Place" in Scots gaelic) Seen on British Artillery Map of 1775 as published by Ardrossan Historical Society, Ardrossan, Scotland. Originally part of the lowland Brythonic Celt kingdom of Strathclyde.

Snodgrass Planet: Free Earth, An imaginary construct created in January 2008 by James T.B. Snodgrass when he declared Independence for everybody on Earth in the name of Freedom.